A Thoroughfare Through The Desert

By CHERYL JENSEN

The Progress

The old “scenic highway” of the early 1900’s can still be retraced from Bunkerville to St. Thomas by the still evident ruts of the Arrowhead Trail.

When the great flood, known then as “Old Noah,” roared through in 1915 with frightening speed creating huge waves after the all-night torrential downpour, the steel span bridge near St. Thomas was washed out. The waves were said to have been rolling 8-10 feet high, heavily laden with mud and sand.

When the bridge was washed out, transportation along this important thoroughfare was halted. Bishop Edward Cox of Bunkerville assigned a Mr. Hardy to the job of pulling cars across the river with his team of horses at the bridge site. Hardy lived in an old sheep wagon for two years until the bridge was repaired so that he would always be available to tend to this important task as needed.

Nowadays, the St. Thomas Bridge that spanned the river just below the Virgin Narrows is gone. But the old road with “wagon-tracks” several inches wider than the wheels of a car are still visible on each end of the span.

The road to St. Thomas on the west side of the river still has the remains of a narrow trail cut from the bluffs. In places it has been washed out by the force of the river. The east side of the river has a flat sandy area before it drops down into the river where a thick growth of Mesquite brush now bars the way near the site of the old bridge.

Along the Arrowhead Trail there may be multiple parallel sets of ruts that avoid rocks or wash outs, but the two ruts with the vegetation in the middle is obviously a well-traveled early route. Rusty antique car parts and metal tire patch remnants can be found along the roadside; as well as tin cans and glass bottles that provide further evidence of the road that used to connect the early settlements along the river.

Leaving Bunkerville the trail goes over the foothills headed west. The Arrowhead Trail is visible adjacent to the gravel roads traveling toward the river.

The trail makes a steep rough dugway down into a wide wash with creosote, salt bush and broom snake weeds. Back up another dugway on the high plateau there is an overlook of the flat sandy area where the bridge once spanned the river. The original steep Arrowhead trail can be seen along the side of the cliff as it descends to the flat near the river’s cliff-like ledge.

Traveling east from the ruins of old St. Thomas the Arrowhead Road goes straight down the original Main Street, then crosses the Muddy River. It eventually goes down a steep grade to the bridge site where it made a rather sharp right turn onto the bridge. The hairpin turn often proved a problem for freighters.

Traveling in the springtime after the rains, the desert is transformed a vibrant green and the desert trumpet or bottle stoppers are ripe and ready for tasting. Look for small clumps with yellow flowers on a hollow stem.

Desert marigolds are prolific with their radiant yellow flowers and grey green stems. Watch out for cholla cacti with its straw-colored spines on the branches.

The purple 4 o’clocks with their brilliant pink-purple flowers contrast with the Desert Globe mallow with orange flowers and grey-green leaves.

Standing on the overlook one can visualize where the St. Thomas Bridge once stood crossing the river just before it converged with the Muddy River. The bridge provided for freighting and automobile travel between Bunkerville and St. Thomas

The route extended to Las Vegas and on to Los Angeles to the west. It continued into Mesquite, St. George and eventually Salt Lake City in the other direction.

In the early 1900’s this trail was used for freighting. This was a main enterprise for the men in this area as a way to earn extra money. Salt was hauled from the Bonelli Salt Mine south of St. Thomas and delivered to St. George, as well as nearby Leeds and Silver Reef.

Some freighters peddled produce to mining camps while others hauled ore from the various mines in Grand Gulch, Key West, Gold Butte and gypsum in Moapa.

Some hauled wood, live chickens, pigs, seedless raisins, cantaloupe and pomegranates in season or grist to roller mills in Washington City.

The trail was dangerous, and arduous even though the steel bridge was constructed near St. Thomas. The river crossing was often risky when the Virgin River was high with the spring run-off.
The freighters had to maneuver their six-to-12-ton loads down a steep ridge to get onto the bridge. Some elected to just cross the river instead of risking their heavy load and horses on the steep road.

A cargo of six tons or more required anywhere from six to twelve horses to pull up hill and through the washes. The rule for freighters was “one horse to one ton” of cargo. Working under the honor code, each teamster would leave a cache of supplies and food for his horses along the trail for the return trip, trusting that no one would pilfer it.

Automobile travel soon became popular and many sightseers started traveling this route to visit the sandstone formations in Valley of Fire or explore Zion Canyon.
In the early years of the Arrowhead Trail, travelers camped in the desert.

The first cars only had 20-30 horsepower engines. They often got stuck in sand or mud holes. The tires were thin: 30” x 3” on the front and 30” x 3½” on the rear. Travelers often did not carry a spare tire, so they had to get out and patch the tire, taking it off, mending it on the spot. They would replace the tire and pump it up by hand.

When traveling motorists had to carry everything with them for camping including grub box, water and bedding; just as the freighters had done.